Why I Ask "What's Not Included?" Before Every Leeboy Parts Order

Here's my opinion, and I'll put it up front so you don't have to dig for it: the lowest number on a parts quote isn't a price. It's a teaser rate.

I manage purchasing for a mid-sized paving and grading contractor. Our spread includes a leeboy grader, an asphalt paver, two compactors, and a bulk concrete mixer that comes out for bigger drainage and barrier pours. I handle supplier relationships, process 60–80 orders a year across 8 vendors, and report to both operations and finance. I get to hear about every buy from every direction when it goes sideways.

I didn't always think this way. When I took over purchasing in 2020, I believed a lower quote just meant a smarter supplier. It took one oversized invoice and one compliance scare to change my mind completely.

The $11,200 order that was supposed to cost $9,400

Six months into the job, our paver needed a full set of screed wear parts before a county project. I found a quote from a newer vendor that came in about 35% below our regular distributor. The number looked like a win. I still had enough sense to check the part numbers, but I didn't check the fine print.

From the outside, that low quote looked like a vendor running a tighter operation. The reality: they were running a tighter quote.

Freight wasn't included. Neither was crating. When one of the items came up backordered, nobody bothered to tell me—I found out when the partial shipment arrived and called to ask where the rest was. That phone call triggered an emergency freight charge for the backordered piece, plus a split shipment fee. The invoice that landed on my desk was about $1,800 above the number I'd budgeted. And because the paver sat idle waiting on parts for two extra days, ops reminded me about the cost of that downtime for weeks.

I still kick myself for not asking one question before signing that PO: What's not included? I knew I should have asked for a complete cost breakdown. I told myself the vendor had given me a fair number—what were the odds something big was missing? Well, the odds caught up with me.

A transparent quote can look higher and still cost less

The way I see it now, a quote is a promise about the final cost. If the promise has holes in it, you're not comparing prices. You're guessing.

In 2022, when we needed to add a bulk concrete mixer, we got quotes from three suppliers. One came in about $4,000 less than the other two—but only if you stopped reading after the first page. The add-ons were listed in the fine print: trailer mount hardware, discharge hopper, wiring harness, and a documentation package. Add those in and the so-called cheap quote landed within $300 of the supplier who put everything on the front page. We still weren't sure the cheaper vendor could deliver a clean documentation folder, and for government-adjacent work, that folder matters.

We paid the higher initial price for the bulk concrete mixer with everything spelled out. In my opinion, that's not being careless with money. That's treating the total cost as the real price. The vendor who lists all fees upfront—even when the total looks higher—usually costs less in the end.

When the hidden cost isn't a line item: compactor compliance requirements

The most frustrating hidden cost isn't a fee at all. It's a missing document.

During our 2024 vendor consolidation project, we went through every machine's file folder. That's when compactor compliance requirements started filling up our spreadsheet. Emissions rules for non-road diesel equipment like compactors have tightened over the last 15 years, and the paperwork has to follow the machine. Take this with a grain of salt because requirements vary by state and by machine age, but generally if a compactor doesn't have its emissions certification and label, you can hit real trouble on state or federally funded work. Verify current requirements at epa.gov and your state agency—don't take a supplier's word for it.

We were dangerously close to buying a used compactor from a dealer who kept saying not to worry about the emissions documentation. Since we bid on public jobs, I knew we'd need to show that paperwork. Don't hold me to the exact rule details, but the principle is simple: 'don't worry about it' isn't a compliance document. We walked away and bought from a supplier who attached the emissions cert and a label photo in the first email. Dodged a bullet on that one—that machine would have been a headache from day one.

The old 'just buy cheaper parts' advice needs an update

There's a piece of advice that floats around equipment yards: brand-name parts are overpriced, so buy the generic equivalent and save yourself 40%. That thinking comes from an era when a machine was just iron, hydraulics, and a simple engine. Today's equipment has emissions systems, electronic controls, and warranty traceability all tied to the parts you install.

This was true years ago when many operators were patching up old machines and didn't care about documentation. That's changed. Our leeboy paver parts orders—cutting edges, wear strips, fasteners—come with material specs that make it easy for me to verify what I'm installing. The same goes for our leeboy grader: genuine components show up with the right labels and paperwork, which makes audits and resale much easier.

I'm not saying every aftermarket part is junk. I'm saying the gamble isn't worth it when you can't get basic information about what you're buying. If a supplier can't tell you where a part came from, what it's made of, and who stands behind it, then the cheap price is just the beginning of the conversation.

Sure, low price wins bids. But total cost wins budgets.

I know what some of you are thinking: in public bidding, the lowest responsive bid takes the job. You're right. I've sat through enough bid openings to know that price decides a lot of contracts. But parts purchasing isn't the same as an equipment bid. When you buy parts, you're not comparing sealed envelopes—you're comparing vendors you'll call again next month and next year.

If you ask me, the cheapest quote is only attractive when everything else is equal. And everything else is almost never equal. The supplier who won't answer a direct question about freight or paperwork on the first order won't suddenly become transparent on the fifth order.

What I ask before every parts order now

If you've ever had a vendor call you back about a fee you never saw coming, you know the sinking feeling. Here's the list I use now, whether I'm ordering leeboy paver parts, a set of cutting edges for the grader, or checking on a compactor's compliance folder:

• What's not included? Freight, crating, handling, split shipment fees, core charges. Get each one on the quote before you approve it.
• What paperwork comes with this? Material certs, warranty terms, and for anything subject to compactor compliance requirements, emissions documentation.
• What's the real lead time? Including backorder risk. A part that shows up late is often more expensive than a part that shows up on time at a higher price.
• What happens if the part doesn't fit? Return policy, restocking fees, and who pays the return freight.

So here's my opinion after five years of buying parts and equipment: I don't need suppliers to be the cheapest. I need them to be the clearest. Anyone can email me a low number. The good ones show you the entire path to that number—and the entire cost of the parts.